Info for visitors & tour operators...

[Bnewb]

The Appleton Rum tour will be closed temporarily starting next week...major renovations happening!

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/b...leton-rum-tour

[NikkiB]

Any idea how long this is supposed to take, Lisa? Thanks.

[Bnewb]

Any idea how long this is supposed to take, Lisa? Thanks.

Nope...they seem to be saying it's a big construction project...so I imagine it's a bit up in the air on how long it will take.

[Marblehead]

We had a blast on our tour. The renovations make it imperative that we investigate the changes as soon as the work is complete! Nothing like hanging out in the aging barn.

[JDd]

We had a blast on our tour. The renovations make it imperative that we investigate the changes as soon as the work is complete! Nothing like hanging out in the aging barn.

exxxactly what i was thinking

[Accompong]

The sugar cane factory itself has been closed since late January of this year. http://nationwideradiojm.com/angry-s...ut-down-order/

The dunnage (what they call the waste from the extraction of the juice) has been polluting the Black River for as long as I can recall. It is only recently that Algix (a fish farm that uses the water) sued J Wray and Nephew in December and applied for an injunction to bar them from discharging waste from the factory until the trial.

J Wray and Nephew could have fixed the problem and went on manufacturing but decided to wait until a trial determined the outcome.

One factor is that sugar from sugar cane is a losing proposition and affecting plants and farmers all over Jamaica. The conversion into rum and molasses is the only process I know of that is making any profit.

Peace and Guidance

[Bnewb]

Apparently resuming operation in January 2017...

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...n-January-2017

[Marblehead]

Wow, Accompong. Thanks for sharing the news article.

One of the things I was glad to hear about Appleton was that they claimed to be so green. Using the pressed cane as fuel for the energy needs of the factory. At the expense of the Black River just isn't acceptable. I wonder what I'll be drinking next reach?

[Accompong]

Wow, Accompong. Thanks for sharing the news article.

One of the things I was glad to hear about Appleton was that they claimed to be so green. Using the pressed cane as fuel for the energy needs of the factory. At the expense of the Black River just isn't acceptable. I wonder what I'll be drinking next reach?

Thanks Marblehead.

It is no coincidence that the Black River rises from a blue hole in the middle of a cane field behind the sugar cane factory. In the early days, this is where they got their water and how they got rid of everything that wasn't converted into sugar.

They do have pilot programs to use the pressed cane (dunnage) as fuel but they produce more than they can use plus the effluent (liquids from the processing) are still draining into the river.

I used to swim downstream at Maggotty Falls (now called Breadnut Valley Falls because the name sounds better)

I think the green color of the water should have been a warning to me but a bad ear infection in the 90's was attributed by my doctor as coming from polluted water.

It is about time that Appleton comes into the 21st Century as far as processing is concerned. Perhaps this lawsuit and the "lipstick" on the old factory will generate the money necessary to meet the NEPA standards for a long time to come.

Peace and Guidance